Tourist Attraction in Cagliari:Anfiteatro Romano di Cagliari

The Roman amphitheater of Cagliari is a Roman building, located in Cagliari. The amphitheater is half dug in the rock while the rest is in white limestone, and the southern facade was to exceed 20 meters. The amphitheater hosted fights between animals, gladiators and skilled fighters who were also recruited outside Sardinia. Equally, capital punishments were executed in front of the exultant crowd. It could contain 10,000 viewers, almost 1/3 of the inhabitants of the Roman Carales. It was built between the 1st and 2nd century AD when Sardinia was subject to Roman domination. Following the spread of Christianity in the territories of the Roman Empire, gladiatorial struggles became increasingly unpopular in 438 AD. Emperor Valentinian III forbade them by law. The amphitheater thus fell into disuse, and from the high-light period until the Middle Ages it was used as a quarry by the various conquerors who needed cheap materials for the construction of new fortifications. The area was acquired by the commune of Cagliari in the nineteenth century which entrusted the archaeological excavations with canonian Giovanni Spano. Today the amphitheater is partially covered with an iron and wood structure that allows to host performances and concerts during the summer season. These structures are in the phase of removal, long and difficult work because these structures were anchored to the stone by hoppers incompatible with the rock substrate. Environmentalists and archaeological superintendence have often criticized this structure (officially removable but in fact present for ten years) which has already caused many damage to the monument during its construction and is causing it due to the low air circulation underneath tribes, the formation of molds that are slowly corroding the stone. The city councilor for culture Giorgio Pellegrini has also been critical of the situation in which the amphitheater is currently located. Since 2011, with the change of city administration, the new junta led by Mayor Massimo Zedda has begun the gradual removal of the structures with the aim of bringing the amphitheater back to its original archaeological site function.